Citizens are demanding an increasingly open government, and campaign finance databases are helping states to provide a more convenient level of access. While the public once needed to visit elections offices in person to peruse campaign finance disclosures, now it can happen with a keystroke.

In Washington State, the Public Disclosure Commission is leading the effort to increase transparency in campaign finance disclosure, and the Commission’s website is the vehicle for disclosing that information to the public.

The commission obtains campaign finance reports from candidates and political action committees, populates the database, and posts the database on its website. Visitors to the site can learn more about money entering campaigns and how it is spent, and they can gather information on candidates, political action committees, individual donors, and lobbyists. The site also allows visitors to link directly to the actual submitted reports. You can find the database here: www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem

For over a century, Foster Pepper PLLC has advised Washington local governments on the Federal and State constitutions and the laws affecting government organization and operation. Washington has a long tradition regarding open government. Washington is one of the first...More...

Northwest Open Government Lawyer & Attorney of Foster Pepper Law Firm, offering services related to public records, open meetings, campaign finance, public disclosure, the Public Records Act, the Open Public Meetings Act, the Public Disclosure Act, the Freedom of Information Act, public accountability and sunshine laws, serving Washington State, Seattle, Spokane and the Pacific Northwest.